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Endangered migrants in the Mediterranean

Feb. 13, 2015, 2:57 PM UTC

Endangered migrants in the Mediterranean

Feb. 13, 2015, 2:57 PM UTC

The UN refugee agency says at least 300 migrants are believed to have drowned while crossing the Mediterranean Sea in dinghies earlier this week. The rubber boats carried refugees from countries including Iraq, Syria and Mali. Survivors say human traffickers forced them to board despite the bad weather and poorly equipped dinghies. Demetri Papademetriou, Distinguished Senior Fellow and President Emeritus of the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank that studies international migration, talks to us about the issue.
PHOTO: Bodies are lined up in the harbor of Lampedusa Monday, Feb. 9, 2015. At least 29 migrants have died from hypothermia while traveling from North Africa to Italy aboard a smuggler's life raft in heavy seas, amid a surge of migrants making the dangerous sea crossing despite the harsh winter conditions. (AP Photo/Mauro Buccarello)